Moon, that mysterious neighbor of the Earth, has always caused us curiosity. Visited several times between the 1960s and 1970s, it is expected that in the coming decade she will count again with astronauts on its surface.
As more challenges loom for the Artemis Program, Findings continue to appear on our natural satellite. The most recent confirms what material its interior is made of: iron. But is it solid or cast?
Arthur Briaud, from the French National Center for Scientific Research, led the work on our natural satellite, published in Nature.
“Our results question the evolution of the Moon’s magnetic field thanks to his demonstration of the existence of the inner nucleus, endorsing a global shift of the mantle,” said Briaud.
What is the interior of the Moon made of?
According to French scientists, the interior of the Moon it is solid iron, with a fluid outer core.
To reach the conclusion, Briaud and his colleagues analyzed seismic data. The way in which acoustic waves generated by moonquakes are They move have helped create a map of the inside of the body.
Now scientists go further, now supported by new technologies. They collected data from space missions and lunar laser ranging experiments, to compile a profile of various lunar features, reaching the conclusion described above.
The densest material inside the Moon it falls towards the center and the less dense one rises.
The decisive thing is that the lunar core is very similar to that of the Earth, with a fluid outer shell and a solid inner core. According to the model proposed by Briaud and colleagues, the outer core has a radius of 362 kilometers, and the interior has a radius of 258 kilometers, about 15% of the total radius of the satellite.
Inner core density is 7,822 kilograms per cubic meter… very close to the density of iron.
In the end, the moon and the earth They have more in common than you thought.